I would've liked to have seen Scarlet Witch. What bugs me about the new Avengers cartoon is that we've got to pretty much start from scratch all over again when we've come this far. By the time it gets to this stage they might've cancelled it, so you can never get very far.

__________________

Quote:

Anne Hathaway: "You did not just ask me that!! What a forward young man you are!!! My goodness!!"

Just cause we may start from sratch doesn't mean we won't get some good stories and character developments. Plus just said it in style/tone of film. I still think we will see other avengerrs memerbs pop in and out. Probably at first maybe make mention to them and a guest spot here and there. And then down road they become full members.

I would've liked to have seen Scarlet Witch. What bugs me about the new Avengers cartoon is that we've got to pretty much start from scratch all over again when we've come this far. By the time it gets to this stage they might've cancelled it, so you can never get very far.

It's kind of sad that Scarlet Witch got to be on Superhero Squad, which is basically a parody of the Avengers, but didn't get to be on EMH. It'll be a miracle if she shows up on "Assemble".

Ya that sucks some times when rights matters screw things up. Look for example the ongoing superman copyright issue, and another superman related deal smallville with characters/stuff they where able to use and where not able to use.

Well if the new series doesn't work out, can't they create a third season for this show? It's not like they couldn't go back to this well. The series finale left it open enough that more stories could continue if they wanted.

If things worked that way I'd still have hopes for Spectacular Spider-Man season 3...Unfortunately, they'd just start from scratch again. Well it was a good run. This show was the only Marvel show that was good that lasted longer than 26 episodes. I have to give props for that, normally they decide to destroy peoples dreams when it comes to animation much earlier.

Three episodes left to "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" second season and series, and the next two not only wrap up the OTHER seasonal subplot in regards to aliens, but pay homage to a 90's AVENGERS comic book story and despite having two separate titles are very much a 2 part story. As such I am going to make my life a bit easier and review "OPERATION GALACTIC STORM" and "LIVE KREE OR DIE HARD" together. That said, titling an episode of this show after a tag line for "DIE HARD 4" from 2007 makes for a very awkward verbal pun.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

OPERATION GALACTIC STORM was an Avengers story arc from 1992 which involved the Avengers of the time (which included Sersi and the Eric Masterson Thor) getting involved in a three way space war between the Kree, the Skrulls and the Shi'ar with Rick Jones and earth hanging in the balance. It did end with the Avengers reaching a moral divide when Iron Man decided to kill the Supreme Intelligence at the end, but now I am digressing. While the Skrulls have been defeated at the end of "SECRET INVASION" and the Shi'ar are mentioned in passing, this is very much a two-parter which ties up the subplot involving the Kree from Season 1 which kicked into high gear in "WELCOME TO THE KREE EMPIRE". This arc also allows Mar-Vell (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) to redeem himself to the Avengers in general and Ms. Marvel in particular, even if he goes about it in an awkward manner. "OPERATION GALACTIC STORM" opens up with a Kree fleet attacking a SWORD ship which is near the sun, which prompts Abigail Brand (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) to summon the Avengers to help deal with this crisis. Things get even more complicated when it not only seems as if the Kree near the sun are constructing some nefarious gadget in space, but the prison ship where Ronan and the rest of the Kree apprehended in "WELCOME TO THE KREE EMPIRE" is attacked by another squad of Kree stealth soldiers. This naturally forces the team to split up a bit as they deal with the Kree's ultimate plan to destroy earth; by opening a wormhole next to the sun which would automatically destroy life on earth.

While previous episodes have assembled the entire roster of Avengers, including Vision and Yellowjacket, this is the first episode in a while which actually seemed to give everyone talking lines. The only omission is Hulk, who made himself a reserve member in "THE DEADLIEST MAN ALIVE". This is also the first episode since "YELLOWJACKET" to actually give us a look at the new and crazier Hank Pym. Poor Brand is stuck alongside him as the rest of the Avengers abandon the prison to head into space after liberating Mar-Vell to aid them, and the result is some dark comedy. While I still don't like Yellowjacket and feel it is an odd place to take Pym as the season/series comes to an end, I have to admit that some of his antics here were amusing to watch, even if for some wrong reasons. He really is a lunatic, akin to letting the Creeper be a member of the Justice League in "JLU", and it does call into question why such a loose canon like him is allowed at all.

In space, Mar-Vell and Thor establish that earth is special because that section of space allows for easy mass dimensional transport, which was a good way to keep Thor involved with the mechanics of the alien plot. After all, Thor was historically involved in massive space epics in the 60's through to the 80's. When T'Challa decides to sacrifice himself to allow the rest of the Avengers to travel into the wormhole to shut it down (an act which would leave them across the galaxy in Kree space), the show also finally gets around to explaining what Kang meant in "THE MAN WHO STOLE TOMORROW" when he blamed Captain America for a future in which the sun was destroyed, life on earth was almost over and his own future had broken down. It did seem odd that Kang had shown up in a previous episode yet instead of dealing with this then, Kang was merely playing "villain of the week". Apparently the act which Cap did which ruined the future wasn't his meddling with the Cosmic Cube in "HAIL HYDRA" (a plot detail forgotten about) nor was it being captured and replaced by a Skrull who furthered along the Skrull Invasion (the Skrull-Cap helped make a war with the Kree inevitable in "WELCOME TO THE KREE EMPIRE"). It was Cap hesitating to head into the wormhole via his unwillingness to allow T'Challa to sacrifice himself - which would had happened if Iron Man didn't bring it up. In all honesty I was expecting something a little more epic involving the Cube and Cap's accidental use of it to weaken the barriers of time, which would have also explained how Red Skull survived. But this season didn't go in that direction - whether because of the Loeb takeover or not is unknown - so instead that subplot is wrapped up in some quick dialogue. Better than nothing, I suppose.

"OPERATION GALACTIC STORM" ends in one of those classic cliffhangers with Black Panther seemingly being burnt alive by the sun (after giving a pretty good final speech) while the Avengers find themselves having saved Earth, but surrounded by fleets in the middle of Kree space.

"LIVE KREE OR DIE" (ugh, I picture Bruce Willis every time I type or read that title) picks up from there, in which you see the entire amassed Kree fleet which had been awaiting an order to invade appear utterly incapable of shooting down one Quinjet until it gets close enough to their home-world to allow it's occupants to survive the crash. Either that Quinjet was tough or the Kree are pretty terrible shots. Perhaps I always become dismayed when I see an alien race whose entire social purpose being warfare suck at it, or perhaps even I can only stretch credibility too far. At any rate, the episode winds up with the team split up and left to fend for themselves on Hala. In a few ways this episode bares parallels to "THE FALL OF ASGARD" and "A DAY UNLIKE ANY OTHER" where the Avengers have wound up banished to an alien realm after a plan to save the earth leaves a harsh side effect, where they have to fumble around and survive until Black Panther comes out of nowhere to lead the rescue. Thus, we have Cap, Mar-Vell, Ms. Marvel, and Wasp left in the middle of one of Hala's central cities while Thor, Hawkeye, and Vision are left fighting giant monsters in what is revealed as a training camp. This episode is also where we really get to meet the villain of the piece, which is the Supreme Intelligence (also called Supremor), voiced by Tony Todd, best known for "CANDYMAN", circa 1992. First Jeffery Combs as Leader, then Lance Henriksen as Grim Reaper, now Todd as the Supreme Intelligence; "A:EMH" has a knack for plucking actors best known for 90's horror/sci-fi movies to voice some of their villains. This is the first time we are seeing the SI in animation since the cell shaded CGI version from "FANTASTIC FOUR: WORLD'S GREATEST HEROES" from 2006, and naturally this version is closer to the comics and voiced a lot better. While he is really just a massive floating head in a jar with tentacles for hair, he does at least come off as menacing to a degree.

Perhaps the most harrowing sequence is when Mar-Vell attempts another of his "sell out his Earthling friends in an attempt to save their lives" ploys which backfires the same as his last one did. His attempt to convince the SI to spare his captives merely results in the SI feeling they should be sent to the science lab for dissection to figure out why humans seem so readily able to mutate when Kree evolution has remained stagnant. This naturally leads to a bit where we see Carol, Jan, and Cap in a lab being tormented by creepy looking Kree scientists. The bit with Carol did remind me of the bit in the 80's X-Men comics when Brood experimentation turned her into Binary, and I was surprised that bit didn't happen here considering what geeks Josh Fine and Chris Yost are. Cap has unfortunate experience with enduring alien torture via "PRISONERS OF WAR" but when he sees Wasp about to be picked apart, all bets are off. Another character who got a very memorable sequence is Thor, who decides to literally test the entire combined might of the Kree War Machine and ultimately "finds it lacking". While it did seem easy and one could argue that was part of the Loeb agenda to amp up the characters from the Avengers film, I certainly don't mind some "awesome power moments" for Thor, especially now that Hulk is out of the show. Hey, a thunder god summoning his mojo against an armada makes for a very cool visual, even if it does seem that a few of Rick Wasserman's "Thor howls" were recorded and played a few times by now.

Unlike in the OPERATION GALACTIC STORM comic, there seems to be no moral debate over whether the SI is alive and whether it is wrong to "kill" it. The show establishes it as a strange alien machine that really can't be permanently destroyed. The Vision also gets a bit to do here, attempting to interface with and "reboot" the SI. I wonder if this show had continued for a third season without Loeb influence whether that bit would have developed into an homage from the time in the comics when Vision was influenced by the Titan computer ISAAC into changing his costume and becoming more cold. At any rate, a final action sequence where everyone attempts to blast a floating head is difficult to make exciting no matter how strong the storyboards are, but it still is fine. I did wonder if it would have been aided had the SI downloaded himself into one of the "Supremor" bodies he has for combat, although that may have seemed even more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. Mar-Vell finally is willing to stand against the Kree and the SI directly instead of through half-measures and winds up taking command of the Kree. A part of me does wonder if Carol forgave Mar-Vell a bit too quickly, although in fairness he did regret his actions from "WELCOME TO THE KREE EMPIRE" and sought to atone in "ASSAULT ON 42" and then here. It was good to see him without his helmet on and while the Kree designs were inspired more by ULTIMATE than the traditional comics - in order to make them look "less human" which I don't mind - he does have silver hair here too. Mar-Vell was never a character I cared for in the comics, and he's hardly been my favorite guest character here. Which did come close to being a dilemma considering how major a role he's had in 4 episodes this season. This episode at least ends his subplot as well as puts the Kree to bed, albeit in a far more simplistic manner than the Skrulls. Plus, unlike with the Skrulls, there were no negative reactions; the Avengers zap stuff, win the day, everyone goes home happy. It is closer to a "JLU" episode finale than "SECRET INVASION" was, which could be a negative for some folks. Me? I was sufficiently entertained.

In conclusion, these two episodes wrap up the Kree subplot, which emerged around the same time as the Skrull subplot but wound up being resolved with less air time and more explosions. There were a lot of good character moments and I did like seeing the Supreme Intelligence adapted properly, and while it was a blast it didn't match the suspense or execution of the Skrull arc.

This episode is also where we really get to meet the villain of the piece, which is the Supreme Intelligence (also called Supremor), voiced by Tony Todd, best known for "CANDYMAN", circa 1992. First Jeffery Combs as Leader, then Lance Henriksen as Grim Reaper, now Todd as the Supreme Intelligence; "A:EMH" has a knack for plucking actors best known for 90's horror/sci-fi movies to voice some of their villains. This is the first time we are seeing the SI in animation since the cell shaded CGI version from "FANTASTIC FOUR: WORLD'S GREATEST HEROES" from 2006, and naturally this version is closer to the comics and voiced a lot better. While he is really just a massive floating head in a jar with tentacles for hair, he does at least come off as menacing to a degree.

Actually, Dread, that was David Kaye as the SI, as shown in the credits. Where did you get that it was Tony Todd?

Actually, Dread, that was David Kaye as the SI, as shown in the credits. Where did you get that it was Tony Todd?

IMDB and laziness.

David Kaye is always awesome and has long voiced many villains in animation, including a few Marvel ones such as Apocalypse in "X-MEN EVOLUTION".

Now, my last review for this series.

There are season finales and series finales, and many times an episode becomes both with or without that expectation. "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" is the last episode of "AVENGERS: EMH"'s second season as well as the final episode of the series, period. "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" is being developed to replace it under the era of Jeph Loeb as TV czar and with a fresh billion (and change) in the bank from "THE AVENGERS" from box office tickets alone. While "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" was intended to help foster that film's success as well as capitalize on it, it was launched by people such as Chris Yost and Josh Fine who genuinely love Marvel Comics and sought to use this show as a showcase more to that than any film. Finales of any kind are tough things to craft as well as to judge. Many times, they wind up as cliffhangers when a season is cancelled abruptly (such as the the finales to less successful shows like "SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED", "SILVER SURFER", and the previous stab at Avengers in animation, "AVENGERS: UNITED THEY STAND"). Other times they seem to come at a natural spot and manage to keep people talking for years to come, such as the finale to "X-MEN" in the 90's or even the finale to "X-MEN EVOLUTION" in 2003. Sometimes they are neither a cliffhanger nor do they tie up all the loose ends as there was hope for another season, such as the end to the last great Marvel cartoon, "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN". So, how does the finale to "A:EMH" fare?

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" does exactly what it says on the tin; assembles quite literally every single superhero who has ever appeared in a major cameo role in the show to take on a gigantic global threat (even if as always it seems centered in NYC). In this way it seems similar to "DESTROYER", the series finale to "JLU" although a key difference is that finale was also the resolution of a seasonal subplot regarding Lex Luthor's attempt to resurrect Brainiac which instead revived Darkseid. This episode had the chance to tie up one seasonal subplot which would have provided the required global/galactic threat in Surtur, who was first introduced in "ACTS OF VENGEANCE" and amped up in "THE BALLAD OF BETA RAY BILL" and (poorly) in "POWERLESS". Yet the fire demon from Asgard and his destructive sword Twilight, despite "THOR" having been a commercial success and the demon found worthy of being a key plot detail in "THOR: TALES OF ASGARD", did not appear. That will forever remain an untapped and unresolved subplot, which is a damn shame quite frankly. To play devil's advocate, perhaps the powers-that-be decided that one season finale which involved a menace from Asgard was enough, and decided not to make it two. So instead the threat of the week/finale/season turns out to be Galactus, the devourer of worlds and his heralds.

In execution, this episode reminded me heavily of "SCAVENGER HUNT", the season/series finale to "FANTASTIC FOUR: WORLD'S GREATEST HEROES" from 2006. That show was the last one that Chris Yost had major influence on before this one; he essentially co-produced and story edited the show alongside Craig Kyle. In that episode, a large armored alien giant emerges from space and appears to be completely invincible, forcing the team of heroes to go all out and abandon doubt to overcome it. Yet because "FF:WGH" was a comedic show at heart, Yost and Kyle did not feel comfortable depicting Galactus for laughs within it; they mention as much in the DVD commentary for the episode. So instead they adapted Terminus, a C-List villain at best, and remade him as a giant kid playing a game. This episode, in contrast, is very similar although because "A:EMH" is a far more serious and straight-forward superhero adventure show, Galactus is allowed to be a part of it and be his usual awesome presence. While many of the details are different, the basic premise of "SCAVENGER HUNT" appears so similar that one could almost imagine both episodes written with the same MAD LIBS sheet, just with different words plugged in. While the producers of "MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD SHOW" didn't feel ashamed to depict Galactus for laughs, this is really the first seriously toned appearance of Galactus in Marvel Animation since "SILVER SURFER" wrapped in 1998. That makes for a gap of some 14 years between serious appearances; quite a lot for one of the ultimate space figures crafted by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, especially when you consider how often characters like Magneto or Dr. Octopus turn up. Much like Apocalypse and his Horsemen, Galactus is never without at least one of his heralds. Surprisingly, the Surfer himself doesn't appear; instead his four heralds are Terrax, Air-Walker, Firelord and Stardust. They are used to represent the elements, although doing so means making Stardust more aquatic than I remember.

After a somewhat blunt discussion about how history will judge them between Iron Man and Cap, Terrax comes down with a horde of space rocks to do what heralds of Galactus always do; announce to the populace and local superheroes that the big G is coming to devour their world. After the standard team of Avengers prove to be unable to do more than briefly distract Terrax as he transforms Stark Tower into some cosmic antennae - and seeing three other heralds repeat this feat around the world, including in the middle of the ocean - Cap is put in charge and uses his keen leadership and legendary tactical skills to come up with a "summon everyone we ever met in spandex who lives on earth" plan. Hey, I liked it, but I never said it was vastly clever; "code white" or whatever it was called was essentially JARVIS hitting "SEND TO ALL" in the inbox. And much like in JLU's "DESTROYER", the reserve squad of cameos come. The Fantastic Four, Doc Samson, Falcon, Black Widow, Quake, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Iron Fist, Luke Cage, War Machine, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and even Winter Soldier and the Hulk. I was probably the most surprised to see Barnes there, to be honest, considering how "WINTER SOLDIER" ended; how did JARVIS even know where he was? At any rate, everyone is rallied by another epic speech by Cap and split up to do their best to battle the heralds. Despite a far more powerful team of heroes being unable to so much as distract Terrax, Cap is able to lead a far weaker team to victory against him because he's just very determined. It is also established that none of the heralds are "alive", even though Terrax is clearly able to talk (and voiced by Kevin Grevioux, of "UNDERWORLD" and NEW WARRIORS fame) and seems to have a personality, which I imagine is justification for the heroes to attempt to destroy rather than arrest them. In fairness, Ultron had plenty of personality but he was always blown to bits anyway; although Vision is allowed to exist. So the lesson is that superheroes are free to kill things that may talk but "aren't alive" unless they decide to join the team; in that case any hunk of bolts in a cape can tag along. For equal time, little attempt at mercy against Darkseid's Para-Demons was ever showcased in "JLU"; even at the end of "S:TAS", Superman himself seems to incinerate a horde of them with heat-vision. When it's a full scale invasion, "acts of war" morality applies.

Galactus himself looks great, depicted as a giant space god without lame cell-shaded CGI as was the case back in '98. This time Galactus doesn't speak, which I think works to make him appear more ominous. After all, Galactus is supposed to be such a high level force of cosmic nature that other beings are akin to insects to him, even when they meddle in his affairs. Do YOU address the gnats or mosquitoes that may harass you personally? While almost every character in this episode gets a moment to shine, some of the noteworthy highlights for me are the increasingly insane Yellowjacket ("What's he going to do? Eat us MORE!?") Captain America (as usual), Iron Fist's blow against Terrax, Human Torch (voiced by David Kaufman, best known as Jimmy Olson from "S:TAS") & Wasp's victory against Stardust, and Thor. While it may seem simplistic that Thor is actually able to harm Galactus in this episode, the show does offer the explanation that Galactus' energy levels were greatly diminished since he was "hungry" and thus not at his prime. In the comics, Thor IS capable of unleashing a "God-Blast" which has been powerful enough to faze Galactus. Much like with "LIVE KREE OR DIE", I usually feel it is about time Thor unleashed some epic feats in animation after always seeming to lose to the Hulk in some animated spots (and even at the start of this show), so I don't mind some cool Thor moments coming out of here. While the epic scale of Galactus' threat is established, a quibble is that the method to undoing him seems to appear simple because it happens in the span of one episode. It involves Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Doc Samson, and Mr. Fantastic stowing away on Galactus' ship and rigging a portal to the Negative Zone to zap Galactus to, where he can feed on the anti-matter energy there. The one unpleasant detail hand-waved away is that Yellowjacket is so crazy that he considers Hank Pym a different, inferior person and he's unwilling to utilize those science skills unless he's virtually shaken until he does (as seen in "YELLOWJACKET"); yet in this episode it is presumed he aided in whatever Stark and Reed had to do. I do feel the heralds were defeated a little too easily, although that again could have been due to only having 21 minutes to spend, and I feel the effect of Galactus consuming the life-energy of the planet would have had more effect if we saw some effect on Earth itself from this, even if it was undone. Skies blackening, trees withering, etc. Again, that could have been due to time.

Yet in the end the episode is very much like a Hollywood blockbuster. It is a big action spectacle with a lot of characters in it, a lot of action and explosions and it does bring Iron Man to a different place than he was in the micro-episodes, when he was more brash, arrogant, and a lone wolf. While he still has some ego and recklessness to him, Stark has learned to appreciate history, stand still to reflect, and admit when he needs help or even when he's not the best leader in the room.

Reflecting on the season as a whole, there did seem to be a noticeable shift in SOMETHING after "POWERLESS", even though MAN OF ACTION technically only wrote or co-wrote 5 episodes out of roughly 12-13. While Loeb was mentioned as the executive producer since the start of the season it was the latter half of it, which Fine and Yost stated, which had more of his influence. Given how underwhelming "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" was I once stated that if the remaining episodes were "average", we'd be lucky. Aside for "POWERLESS", the remaining episodes whether by MOA or not were all well above average to varying degrees. Yet much as I suspected in "SECRET INVASION", that episode was a peak which the show would never quite reach again, even if it did try. At this stage the Surtur subplot will remain an unresolved cliffhanger which ended on a whimper with "POWERLESS" when it could have been an awesome chance to adopt Walt Simonson's epic to animation. Without resolving it, it makes a lot of Thor's tenure away from the team before "SECRET INVASION" border on a waste of time, merely accomplishing a cool episode with Sif and Beta Ray Bill. In hindsight it might have been removed, but I imagine by the time Loeb & MOA started to influence the show for whatever reason (deadlines according to Fine, whims of power according to real life logic), too much of the show was already in production to re-write that. The other questionable element of the season revolves around Yellowjacket. While Pym's quitting being an Avenger led to the introduction of Scott Lang and naturally one of my favorite episodes in "TO STEAL AN ANT-MAN", for the life of me I don't know what making Pym become the deranged Yellowjacket accomplished beyond ending the series establishing him as the psycho that many fans already believe he is. Having an arc where Pym leaves the team and returns in another guise is fine, but there are less toxic identities to have used; Goliath or my preference, plain ol' Doctor Pym would have sufficed. In fact the latter would have better resolved Pym's arc of accepting himself as a scientist superhero rather than have him randomly snap and develop a new bee-themed personality. While I will admit Yellowjacket amused me with a few of his recent antics, in the end he seems akin to a deranged Batman villain who the Avengers allow on the team because of seniority. This episode especially needed Pym in his scientist guise and him being Yellowjacket forced that issue - which was itself the climax of an episode - to be forgotten. In season 1, I was greatly pleased by how this show handled Pym; rather than depict him as an eternally confidence lacking psycho, it instead handled him well as a bizarre but still engaging hero and scientist. Season 2, however, saw him descend into type and I've never liked Yellowjacket much at all, as it represents the worst of the character which has become all he's known for. Spider-Man was another bug-themed hero who once snapped and hit his wife, the only difference is that isn't all he's known for DESPITE that moment being homaged in a film.

Naturally, this doesn't get into "Drake Bell Dub-Gate", which may end up referenced in message boards as much as anything else from this season. It remains a damn shame that Josh Keaton's tracks weren't allowed in, as originally intended and recorded. Considering this series has been cancelled and doesn't share continuity with "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" (while its replacement, "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" might), it seems equally short sighted and petty.

Still, there is a lot to like in this season. Even the latter half of it was better than some expected and had some great moments and episodes, including with the Red Skull. It made anything with the Red Hulk actually watchable. This is the first time so many of Marvel's superheroes were allowed to all exist within the same show and animated series since "SPIDER-MAN: TAS" in the 90's also accomplished the feat of guest stints by the FF, the X-Men, War Machine, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Blade. Many villains, both big time (Ultron, Kang, Leader, Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Loki) and small time (Purple Man, Grim Reaper, Doughboy), as well as a few brand new ones (Skrull-Cap) were handled efficiently and cast gloriously. So many heroes from starring Avengers to guest stars all got their moments to shine in a manner that DC fans took for granted for 5 years in "JUSTICE LEAGUE" but for Marvel fans has been long overdue. Warts and all, this is easily the best superhero show produced by Marvel Animation outright they have ever had; "X-MEN EVOLUTION" was a co-production with Warner Brothers and "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN" was produced by Sony. When "NEXT AVENGERS" came out I initially hated it because I cynically doubted we would ever get a decent Avengers cartoon on TV; this series proved me wrong and I am glad to have been wrong. While the meddling in production for the final stretch is a shame, it didn't destroy the show completely and "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" will still stand tall as Marvel's long awaited answer to "JLU", and at least to me it often managed to be superior. My heart sank when the roster for the team was shown on screen for the last time, as this is a show whose greatness I will miss for years to come.

Now, how about those Season 2 DVD sets, Disney? Crank 'em out so I can add them to my collection already!

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" does exactly what it says on the tin; assembles quite literally every single superhero who has ever appeared in a major cameo role in the show to take on a gigantic global threat (even if as always it seems centered in NYC). In this way it seems similar to "DESTROYER", the series finale to "JLU" although a key difference is that finale was also the resolution of a seasonal subplot regarding Lex Luthor's attempt to resurrect Brainiac which instead revived Darkseid. This episode had the chance to tie up one seasonal subplot which would have provided the required global/galactic threat in Surtur, who was first introduced in "ACTS OF VENGEANCE" and amped up in "THE BALLAD OF BETA RAY BILL" and (poorly) in "POWERLESS". Yet the fire demon from Asgard and his destructive sword Twilight, despite "THOR" having been a commercial success and the demon found worthy of being a key plot detail in "THOR: TALES OF ASGARD", did not appear. That will forever remain an untapped and unresolved subplot, which is a damn shame quite frankly. To play devil's advocate, perhaps the powers-that-be decided that one season finale which involved a menace from Asgard was enough, and decided not to make it two. So instead the threat of the week/finale/season turns out to be Galactus, the devourer of worlds and his heralds.

In execution, this episode reminded me heavily of "SCAVENGER HUNT", the season/series finale to "FANTASTIC FOUR: WORLD'S GREATEST HEROES" from 2006. That show was the last one that Chris Yost had major influence on before this one; he essentially co-produced and story edited the show alongside Craig Kyle. In that episode, a large armored alien giant emerges from space and appears to be completely invincible, forcing the team of heroes to go all out and abandon doubt to overcome it. Yet because "FF:WGH" was a comedic show at heart, Yost and Kyle did not feel comfortable depicting Galactus for laughs within it; they mention as much in the DVD commentary for the episode. So instead they adapted Terminus, a C-List villain at best, and remade him as a giant kid playing a game. This episode, in contrast, is very similar although because "A:EMH" is a far more serious and straight-forward superhero adventure show, Galactus is allowed to be a part of it and be his usual awesome presence. While many of the details are different, the basic premise of "SCAVENGER HUNT" appears so similar that one could almost imagine both episodes written with the same MAD LIBS sheet, just with different words plugged in. While the producers of "MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD SHOW" didn't feel ashamed to depict Galactus for laughs, this is really the first seriously toned appearance of Galactus in Marvel Animation since "SILVER SURFER" wrapped in 1998. That makes for a gap of some 14 years between serious appearances; quite a lot for one of the ultimate space figures crafted by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, especially when you consider how often characters like Magneto or Dr. Octopus turn up. Much like Apocalypse and his Horsemen, Galactus is never without at least one of his heralds. Surprisingly, the Surfer himself doesn't appear; instead his four heralds are Terrax, Air-Walker, Firelord and Stardust. They are used to represent the elements, although doing so means making Stardust more aquatic than I remember.

After a somewhat blunt discussion about how history will judge them between Iron Man and Cap, Terrax comes down with a horde of space rocks to do what heralds of Galactus always do; announce to the populace and local superheroes that the big G is coming to devour their world. After the standard team of Avengers prove to be unable to do more than briefly distract Terrax as he transforms Stark Tower into some cosmic antennae - and seeing three other heralds repeat this feat around the world, including in the middle of the ocean - Cap is put in charge and uses his keen leadership and legendary tactical skills to come up with a "summon everyone we ever met in spandex who lives on earth" plan. Hey, I liked it, but I never said it was vastly clever; "code white" or whatever it was called was essentially JARVIS hitting "SEND TO ALL" in the inbox. And much like in JLU's "DESTROYER", the reserve squad of cameos come. The Fantastic Four, Doc Samson, Falcon, Black Widow, Quake, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Iron Fist, Luke Cage, War Machine, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and even Winter Soldier and the Hulk. I was probably the most surprised to see Barnes there, to be honest, considering how "WINTER SOLDIER" ended; how did JARVIS even know where he was? At any rate, everyone is rallied by another epic speech by Cap and split up to do their best to battle the heralds. Despite a far more powerful team of heroes being unable to so much as distract Terrax, Cap is able to lead a far weaker team to victory against him because he's just very determined. It is also established that none of the heralds are "alive", even though Terrax is clearly able to talk (and voiced by Kevin Grevioux, of "UNDERWORLD" and NEW WARRIORS fame) and seems to have a personality, which I imagine is justification for the heroes to attempt to destroy rather than arrest them. In fairness, Ultron had plenty of personality but he was always blown to bits anyway; although Vision is allowed to exist. So the lesson is that superheroes are free to kill things that may talk but "aren't alive" unless they decide to join the team; in that case any hunk of bolts in a cape can tag along. For equal time, little attempt at mercy against Darkseid's Para-Demons was ever showcased in "JLU"; even at the end of "S:TAS", Superman himself seems to incinerate a horde of them with heat-vision. When it's a full scale invasion, "acts of war" morality applies.

Galactus himself looks great, depicted as a giant space god without lame cell-shaded CGI as was the case back in '98. This time Galactus doesn't speak, which I think works to make him appear more ominous. After all, Galactus is supposed to be such a high level force of cosmic nature that other beings are akin to insects to him, even when they meddle in his affairs. Do YOU address the gnats or mosquitoes that may harass you personally? While almost every character in this episode gets a moment to shine, some of the noteworthy highlights for me are the increasingly insane Yellowjacket ("What's he going to do? Eat us MORE!?") Captain America (as usual), Iron Fist's blow against Terrax, Human Torch (voiced by David Kaufman, best known as Jimmy Olson from "S:TAS") & Wasp's victory against Stardust, and Thor. While it may seem simplistic that Thor is actually able to harm Galactus in this episode, the show does offer the explanation that Galactus' energy levels were greatly diminished since he was "hungry" and thus not at his prime. In the comics, Thor IS capable of unleashing a "God-Blast" which has been powerful enough to faze Galactus. Much like with "LIVE KREE OR DIE", I usually feel it is about time Thor unleashed some epic feats in animation after always seeming to lose to the Hulk in some animated spots (and even at the start of this show), so I don't mind some cool Thor moments coming out of here. While the epic scale of Galactus' threat is established, a quibble is that the method to undoing him seems to appear simple because it happens in the span of one episode. It involves Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Doc Samson, and Mr. Fantastic stowing away on Galactus' ship and rigging a portal to the Negative Zone to zap Galactus to, where he can feed on the anti-matter energy there. The one unpleasant detail hand-waved away is that Yellowjacket is so crazy that he considers Hank Pym a different, inferior person and he's unwilling to utilize those science skills unless he's virtually shaken until he does (as seen in "YELLOWJACKET"); yet in this episode it is presumed he aided in whatever Stark and Reed had to do. I do feel the heralds were defeated a little too easily, although that again could have been due to only having 21 minutes to spend, and I feel the effect of Galactus consuming the life-energy of the planet would have had more effect if we saw some effect on Earth itself from this, even if it was undone. Skies blackening, trees withering, etc. Again, that could have been due to time.

Yet in the end the episode is very much like a Hollywood blockbuster. It is a big action spectacle with a lot of characters in it, a lot of action and explosions and it does bring Iron Man to a different place than he was in the micro-episodes, when he was more brash, arrogant, and a lone wolf. While he still has some ego and recklessness to him, Stark has learned to appreciate history, stand still to reflect, and admit when he needs help or even when he's not the best leader in the room.

Reflecting on the season as a whole, there did seem to be a noticeable shift in SOMETHING after "POWERLESS", even though MAN OF ACTION technically only wrote or co-wrote 5 episodes out of roughly 12-13. While Loeb was mentioned as the executive producer since the start of the season it was the latter half of it, which Fine and Yost stated, which had more of his influence. Given how underwhelming "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" was I once stated that if the remaining episodes were "average", we'd be lucky. Aside for "POWERLESS", the remaining episodes whether by MOA or not were all well above average to varying degrees. Yet much as I suspected in "SECRET INVASION", that episode was a peak which the show would never quite reach again, even if it did try. At this stage the Surtur subplot will remain an unresolved cliffhanger which ended on a whimper with "POWERLESS" when it could have been an awesome chance to adopt Walt Simonson's epic to animation. Without resolving it, it makes a lot of Thor's tenure away from the team before "SECRET INVASION" border on a waste of time, merely accomplishing a cool episode with Sif and Beta Ray Bill. In hindsight it might have been removed, but I imagine by the time Loeb & MOA started to influence the show for whatever reason (deadlines according to Fine, whims of power according to real life logic), too much of the show was already in production to re-write that. The other questionable element of the season revolves around Yellowjacket. While Pym's quitting being an Avenger led to the introduction of Scott Lang and naturally one of my favorite episodes in "TO STEAL AN ANT-MAN", for the life of me I don't know what making Pym become the deranged Yellowjacket accomplished beyond ending the series establishing him as the psycho that many fans already believe he is. Having an arc where Pym leaves the team and returns in another guise is fine, but there are less toxic identities to have used; Goliath or my preference, plain ol' Doctor Pym would have sufficed. In fact the latter would have better resolved Pym's arc of accepting himself as a scientist superhero rather than have him randomly snap and develop a new bee-themed personality. While I will admit Yellowjacket amused me with a few of his recent antics, in the end he seems akin to a deranged Batman villain who the Avengers allow on the team because of seniority. This episode especially needed Pym in his scientist guise and him being Yellowjacket forced that issue - which was itself the climax of an episode - to be forgotten. In season 1, I was greatly pleased by how this show handled Pym; rather than depict him as an eternally confidence lacking psycho, it instead handled him well as a bizarre but still engaging hero and scientist. Season 2, however, saw him descend into type and I've never liked Yellowjacket much at all, as it represents the worst of the character which has become all he's known for. Spider-Man was another bug-themed hero who once snapped and hit his wife, the only difference is that isn't all he's known for DESPITE that moment being homaged in a film.

Naturally, this doesn't get into "Drake Bell Dub-Gate", which may end up referenced in message boards as much as anything else from this season. It remains a damn shame that Josh Keaton's tracks weren't allowed in, as originally intended and recorded. Considering this series has been cancelled and doesn't share continuity with "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" (while its replacement, "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" might), it seems equally short sighted and petty.

Still, there is a lot to like in this season. Even the latter half of it was better than some expected and had some great moments and episodes, including with the Red Skull. It made anything with the Red Hulk actually watchable. This is the first time so many of Marvel's superheroes were allowed to all exist within the same show and animated series since "SPIDER-MAN: TAS" in the 90's also accomplished the feat of guest stints by the FF, the X-Men, War Machine, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Blade. Many villains, both big time (Ultron, Kang, Leader, Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Loki) and small time (Purple Man, Grim Reaper, Doughboy), as well as a few brand new ones (Skrull-Cap) were handled efficiently and cast gloriously. So many heroes from starring Avengers to guest stars all got their moments to shine in a manner that DC fans took for granted for 5 years in "JUSTICE LEAGUE" but for Marvel fans has been long overdue. Warts and all, this is easily the best superhero show produced by Marvel Animation outright they have ever had; "X-MEN EVOLUTION" was a co-production with Warner Brothers and "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN" was produced by Sony. When "NEXT AVENGERS" came out I initially hated it because I cynically doubted we would ever get a decent Avengers cartoon on TV; this series proved me wrong and I am glad to have been wrong. While the meddling in production for the final stretch is a shame, it didn't destroy the show completely and "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" will still stand tall as Marvel's long awaited answer to "JLU", and at least to me it often managed to be superior. My heart sank when the roster for the team was shown on screen for the last time, as this is a show whose greatness I will miss for years to come.

Just cause we may start from sratch doesn't mean we won't get some good stories and character developments. Plus just said it in style/tone of film. I still think we will see other avengerrs memerbs pop in and out. Probably at first maybe make mention to them and a guest spot here and there. And then down road they become full members.

Where does your blind faith come from? While it could be argued I have none at all since the only thing we have to judge in this new regime of Marvel Animation is that crap that precedes EMH, I think you have have entirely too much. lol.

It's all good though, just an observation.

__________________"Well, I guess the laws of physics cease to exist on top of your stove!"

Where does your blind faith come from? While it could be argued I have none at all since the only thing we have to judge in this new regime of Marvel Animation is that crap that precedes EMH, I think you have have entirely too much. lol.

It's all good though, just an observation.

he really IS the most optimistic bugger I've ever seen here...

and that IS a good thing...

SOMETIMES...

__________________LET'S STAMP OUT BULLYING... LET'S GANGSTOMP SOME MUDHOLES ON SOME PUNKB***H BULLIES...

QS fits way more, to me, in the Mutant world than the Avenger world. my first exposure to wanda was actually -for as crappy as it was- United They Stand, but after seeing recent incarnations in some of the x-shows(Evolution, W&TXM) I think she could be a bit of a floater between both worlds. But if you put a gun to my head, I'd stick her in the Avengers world and keep quicksilver in the mutant forefront

__________________"Well, I guess the laws of physics cease to exist on top of your stove!"

QS fits way more, to me, in the Mutant world than the Avenger world. my first exposure to wanda was actually -for as crappy as it was- United They Stand, but after seeing recent incarnations in some of the x-shows(Evolution, W&TXM) I think she could be a bit of a floater between both worlds. But if you put a gun to my head, I'd stick her in the Avengers world and keep quicksilver in the mutant forefront

agreed... they can remain independent of each other...

when they were first introduced, they were outcasts on the run, but each has grown and matured to the point where they no longer need each other for continual brother/sister support...

Wanda has whoever she has but Pietro has Crystal and Luna and the rest of the Inhumans family, so he shouldn't even be involved with the X-Men...

__________________LET'S STAMP OUT BULLYING... LET'S GANGSTOMP SOME MUDHOLES ON SOME PUNKB***H BULLIES...

How does that stuff get into the Ultimates? Who came up with that? How many people really want to be reading that kind of stuff? It's not like incest is a common fantasy among readers except for perhaps the exception. It's just distasteful. It seems they were doing it just to try to be "edgy" and shocking.

If they're going to do something, why not have Scarlet Witch getting it on with Wasp or Ms Marvel?

__________________

Quote:

Anne Hathaway: "You did not just ask me that!! What a forward young man you are!!! My goodness!!"